Stop Asking If the Universe Is a Computer Simulation

 Stop Asking If the Universe Is a Computer Simulation

We will never know if we live in a computer simulation; here is a more interesting question

The 18th-century philosopher Immanuel Kant argued that the universe ultimately consists of things-in-themselves that are unknowable. While he held the notion that objective reality exists, he said our mind plays a necessary role in structuring and shaping our perceptions. Kant was ahead of his time but undeniably insightful. Modern neuroscience and cognitive science have revealed that our perceptual experience of the world is the result of many stages of processing by sensory systems and cognitive functions in the brain. No one knows exactly what happens within this black box. What we do know is these brain processes generate a vast amount of additional information beyond what our senses perceive. Take vision, for instance; our retinas are two flat surfaces that only receive two-dimensional information, but our cognitive functions add the third dimension to our perceptual experience.

If empirical experience fails to reveal reality, reasoning won’t reveal reality either since it relies on concepts and words that are contingent on our social, cultural and psychological histories. Again, a black box.

So, if we accept that the universe is unknowable, we also accept we will never know if we live in a computer simulation. And then, we can shift our inquiry from “Is the universe a computer simulation?” to “Can we model the universe as a computer simulation?” These are two very different questions. The former confines us in speculation; the latter puts us on track to doing science.